1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a periodontal pocket measurement apparatus for use in dental diagnosis.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Measuring the depth of a periodontal pocket caused by a periodontal disease, is one of important diagnostic activities in dental diagnosis. Known apparatuses for the measurement comprise a probe at the tip of a handpiece and a sleeve for covering the probe, wherein the probe and the sleeve are made slidable relatively to each other, being characterized in that the depth of a periodontal pocket can be detected by measuring the positional difference between the tip of the probe and the tip of the sleeve when the tip of the probe is made contact with the bottom portion of the periodontal pocket and the tip of the sleeve is made contact with the upper fringe of a gingiva (see Japanese Utility Model Publication 53-14069, Japanese Patent Publication 62-24098 and Utility Model Publication 62-32018, for example).
However, in these conventional apparatuses, since the direction of the probe is fixed with respect to the main handpiece unit, it is difficult to operate the probe. Furthermore, the portion of the handpiece to be inserted into the mouth of a patient cannot be easily subjected to sterilization by autoclave. Moreover, the mechanism is generally complicated and large, and it is high in cost.
In addition, various apparatuses have been proposed as apparatuses for recording examination results and outputting the results as necessary (see Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 59-40102, for example). However, such apparatuses cannot output diagnosis results in accordance with predetermined formats, and much time is required for clerical work incident to diagnosis, such as data processing.